theislandsfandomcom-20200214-history
AIRCRAFT: Panavia Tornado
. - - . . . . . . '~ Panavia Tornado Family ~' ---- . The Panavia Tornado is a family of sturdy, twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy. There are three primary variants of the Tornado; the Tornado IDS (interdictor/strike) fighter-bomber, the suppression of enemy air defenses Tornado ECR (electronic combat/reconnaissance) and the Tornado ADV (air defense variant) interceptor. The Tornado was developed and built by Panavia Aircraft GmbH, a tri-national consortium consisting of British Aerospace (previously British Aircraft Corporation), MBB of West Germany, and Aeritalia of Italy. It first flew on 14 August 1974 and was introduced into service in 1979–1980. Due to its multi-role nature, it was able to replace several different fleets of aircraft in the adopting air forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) became an export operator of the Tornado in addition to the three original partner nations. A tri-nation training and evaluation unit operating from RAF Cottesmore, the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment, maintained a level of international cooperation beyond the production stage. The Tornado was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF), Italian Air Force and Royal Saudi Air Force during the 1991 Gulf War, in which the Tornado conducted many low-altitude penetrating strike missions. The Tornados of various operators were also used in conflicts in the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian War and Kosovo War, the Iraq War, Libya during the Libyan civil war, as well as smaller roles in Afghanistan and Yemen. Including all variants, a total of 992 aircraft were built. . . . ---- '''- Panavia Tornado IDS GR4 -- F/B___ Fighter-Bombers' . - AIR Tornado GR4 Clean 5 Oc lg.jpg - . __________ RAF IDS variants were initially designated the Tornado GR1 with later modified aircraft designated Tornado GR1A, Tornado GR1B, Tornado GR4 and Tornado GR4A. The first of 228 GR1s was delivered on 5 June 1979, and the type entered service in the early 1980s. ﻿In 1984, the UK Ministry of Defense began studies for a GR1 Mid-Life Update (MLU). The update to GR4 standard, approved in 1994, would improve capability in the medium-altitude role based on lessons learned from the GR1's performance in the 1991 Gulf War. British Aerospace (later BAE Systems) upgraded 142 Tornado GR1s to GR4 standard, beginning in 1996 and finished in 2003. The Islands Government sought a purchase of three squadrons worth of GR4's from the RAF, numbering 92 aircraft, 28 of which became GR4B's. . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'Specifications':' . __ . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'Gallery': . - 1356050.jpg AIR Tornado IDS GR4 with Brimstones lg.jpg Panavia-tornado-gr4-wallpapers 17365 1024x768.jpg TornadoGr4-ZA596-062-a-jpg.jpg - . . . ---- - Panavia Tornado IDS GR4B -- F/A___ Maritime Fighter-Bombers' . - Tornado GR.4.jpg - . __________ The Tornado GR4B is a specialized anti-shipping variant of the GR4. A total of 28 were converted by __________ upon delivery to The Islands. Each aircraft is equipped to carry four Harpoon anti-ship missiles. __________ __________ . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'Specifications':' . __________ . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'Gallery': . - Gr1b.jpg Gr1b 8.jpg Readinessatlossiemouth.jpg - . . . ---- - Panavia Tornado ECR ___ -- EF___ Wild Weasels' . - Tornado-ecr-upper-heyford-1991.jpg - . __________ The ECR is a Tornado variant of the GR4 devoted to Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) missions, otherwise known as Wild Weasel or Iron Hand. The ECR has sensors to detect radar usage and is equipped with anti-radiation AGM-88 HARM missiles. Fourteen aircraft were acquired and specially modified to fill this role. . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'Specifications':' . __________ . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'Gallery': . - TornadoECR4635.jpg Tornado-ecr.jpg 376271-1980x1319.jpg An-italian-air-force-tornado-ids-armed-gert-kromhout.jpg - . . . ---- - Panavia Tornado ADV F3 -- F/I___ Interceptors' . - 4933123140 9b4e2e7979 z.jpg - . __________ ﻿The Panavia Tornado Air Defence Variant (ADV) is a long-range, twin-engine interceptor version of the swing-wing Panavia Tornado. The aircraft's first flight was on 27 October 1979, and it entered service in 1986. It was retired on 22 March 2011 by the Royal Air Force, and is currently in service only with the Royal Saudi Air Force. It was also previously operated by the Italian Air Force. The aircraft was originally designed to intercept Soviet bombers as they came in from the East to strike the United Kingdom. Both the RAF and RSAF have or are replacing the Tornado ADV with the Eurofighter Typhoon, freeing up aircraft for export. . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'Specifications':' . __________ . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'Gallery': . - Adv 07.jpg Tornado ADV.jpg 10 inch TORNADO.jpg Tornado6.jpg Tornado ADV Weapons1.jpg Panavia-tornado-adv 6.jpg - . . . ---- '''Notes: . . . . . ---- . . . . . Category:AIRCRAFT Category:AIR FORCE Category:NAVY Category:British Equipment Category:Air Force Reserve Category:Italian Equipment Category:German Equipment Category:Saudi Equipment